Stuart Broad is prepared for being left out of England’s Test team during the five-match series against India.
The 32-year-old is expecting the pace bowlers to be rotated to allow for the very tight schedule which sees five Tests played over six weeks, starting at Edgbaston on Wednesday.
He said he and Jimmy Anderson had been briefed about the possibility of being left out for a match to manage workload.
“I think there has already been small conversations saying about ‘don’t be disheartened if you are left out for a Test match’, it’s not a personal attack or dropping, it’s management of your bowlers to make sure we give ourselves the best chance,” Broad said.
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“I won’t get to the stage where I am left out at say, Lord’s, I’d go back and play county cricket, if you’re missing out, fresh bowlers come in, you stay around [the squad], keep talking, stay part of the unit so it’s only natural to expect small changes throughout five Test matches, but the bowlers have to be able to take it.”
He also acknowledged that the potential for England to play two spinners – Moeen Ali and Adil Rashid – in turning conditions might ease the burden on the fast bowlers.
“If the pitches turn square and the spinners do a lot of the work, you might not bowl so much but come on when the ball starts to reverse swing,” Broad said. “So sometimes your workloads can be higher if green and nibbling, but if it turns the spinners will bowl 20-30 overs each before the new ball.”
“The positive is we haven’t had a huge amount of overs towards the end of June then July, so we’re going into a five-Test series in just over six weeks really fresh. It’s going to be tough, we get a break in a series normally but the fixtures have fallen such that it’s going to be a physical challenge for the bowlers.”
Broad is one of five pace bowlers in the 13-man squad for the first Test, along with Anderson, Ben Stokes, Sam Curran and the uncapped Jamie Porter.
